Shoe holding bracket



Nov. 23, 1954 J. P, MITCHELL 2,695,105

SHOE HOLDING BRACKET Filed March e, 1951 1N VEN TOR. c /w/N mwfm UnitedStates Patent() SHOE HOLDING BRACKET John P. Mitchell, Arcadia, Calif.

Application March 6, 1951, Serial No. 214,105

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-35) My invention relates to a support for footwearsuitable for installation in homes, ollices and the like, and moreparticularly to a wall bracket or rack for holding one or more pairs ofshoes when not in use.

Many prior types of shoe supports are known to the art and are inwidespread use, but all of these suffer from certain basic defects whichthis invention is designed to overcome. A majority of the prior devicessupport the shoes on an inclined step or on shelf cleats which areadapted only to a particular style of shoe. A substantial amount ofhorizontal space is required for such a support, and the entire group-ofshoes supported thereon may be easily disarranged by the removal orreplacement of a single pair. Furthermore, because of the limited shelfspace in the conventional wardrobe or closet, it is usually necessary toplace the shelf-type of support in some relatively inaccessiblelocation.

Still other prior devices are designed to support the shoes by means ofpockets or envelopes which quickly become soiled and damaged by contactwith the shoe soles. In addition, the pocket-type of support is not welladapted for receiving different styles and sizes of shoes, and is likelyto damage or mar the upper coverings thereon. While there may be manymodifications and variations of the prior devices, the aforementioneddefects are retained, since they are directly related to the type ofsupport provided.

For these reasons there has been a long-felt need for a shoe support ofmore convenient and practical construction. By the use of an entirelydifferent and novel method of suspension, l have been able to overcomethe defects of the prior devices and provide a shoe support which isadapted to accommodate any style or size of shoe, and requires a minimumamount of installation space.

A major object of my invention is to provide a support or bracket forfootwear which suspends each shoe` by clamp means which wedge againstthe edge of the shoe sole to suspend the shoe vertically in the minimumamount of horizontal space.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shoe support which isadapted to accommodate any style of high or low shoe, and which iseasily adjusted for particular sizes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shoe support or bracketwhich suspends one or more pairs of shoes in a vertical position withthe sole thereof faced inwardly against the support, so that no dirt isrubbed from the sole onto clothes or other articles in proximitythereto.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a shoe support havingmeans to engage a shoe which do not in any way scrape, impress, ordamage the upper covering.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a shoe bracket whichis easily installed and removed, and which may be sold in convenientlengths adapted for particular installations and arrangements.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a shoe bracket ofsimple and durable construction which may be manufactured and sold at anominal price.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will becomeapparent from the following description of two embodiments thereof, andfrom an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a first embodiment of rny support showninstalled on a vertical wall surface;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a segment of the support shown in Fig. l,with a single shoe clamp mounted thereon;

3 is a cross section taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a modified form of support;

F Fig 5 is a cross section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 6 is a crosssection showing the shoe clamp of Fig. 5 rocked to an adjustmentposition;

Fig. 7 is a cross section taken along the line 7 7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the adjustable shoeclamping means usedin a modified form of the device.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. l thereof, oneembodiment of the invention is seen to include an elongated base ortrack 10 on which is slidably mounted a plurality of clamp meansindicated generally at 11. The base 10 is secured to a vertical surfaceW in a generally horizontal position, and may be mounted on a closetdoor, wall, or in any other accessible location. The clamps 11 arespaced along the length of the base 10, and are disposed in pairs, witheach pair being adapted to bracket and engage with the opposite soleedges of a shoe S. Each pair of clamps 11 has opposed jaw portions whichare adapted to wedge into engagement with the edges of the shoe sole sothat a plurality of shoes S may be suspended vertically with the solesfaced against the base 10. Each shoe S is suspended independently of theothers, and displaces a minimum amount of horizontal space. The clamps11 are slidably mounted on the base 10 to provide adjustment fordifferent sizes and styles of shoes, and are normally locked at selectedlocations by a locking device which is described in detail hereinafter.

ln order to permit the sliding movement of the clamps 11, the base 10 isprovided with a forwardly opening channel, formed typically ofT-section, so that the clamps may project outwardly and engage with theedges of the shoe soles. A preferred form of base 10 is provided with ailat rear wall 14 joined integrally with an upper iiange 15 and lowerange 16 which are spaced apart to provide a central elongated channel17. The upper ange 15 extends horizontally outwardly from the wall 14and then turns downwardly to define a rectangular upper groove 18 whichextends along the top of the channel 17. A lower groove 19 is similarlydefined by the lower flange 16 and communicates upwardly into thechannel 17 so as to complement the upper groove 18. The base 10 may beadvantageously formed by extrusion from any of a variety ofattractively-colored plastic materials such as poly-methyl-methacrylate,poly-vinyl-chloride, the resins of phenol or urea, or the like. The useof a colored plastic material obviates the necessity of painting orotherwise decorating the device, and the appearance may be furtherenhanced by the use of rounded or otherwise attractively-shaped corners.An extrusion process permits the base 10 to be cut to any desired orconvenient length to meet special requirements of particularinstallations. After being cut to the desired length, the base 10 isprovided with end apertures 20 to receive screws or similar fasteningmeans 21 for installing the device on a wall surface.

As aforementioned, the clamps 11 are disposed in pairs which are adaptedto bracket and engage with the sole of a single shoe. Each clamp 11includes a rectangular body or block 24 which is formed of plastic orother suitable material, and has its upper and lower edges conlinedWithin the grooves 18 and 19 for longitudinal sliding movement.Projecting outwardly from the block 24 is a jaw member 25 formed with atapered engaging surface 26 terminated by an outer flange or lip 27. Theengaging surface 26 is generally perpendicular to the plane of the base10, and is preferably made downwardly convergent with respect to theengaging surface of the other jaw member 25 of a pair of clamps 11. Theterminal lips 27 of the adjacent jaws 25 are turned inwardly towardseach other, and are adapted to hook over the welt of the shoe as thelatter is moved downwardly.

My invention makes use of the fact that substantially v, all shoes areformed with a sole outline which tapers toward the heel from theforepart. It will be found that this relationship exists whether theshoe has the at sole of the platform-type now popular with women, or hasthe conventional raised instep of the normal shoe. In either case theoutline of the shoe sole tapers rearwardly at the instep portion of thefoot. In the use of my .shoe support, the opposed convergent surfaces 26of a pair of clamps 11 wedge against the tapered instep sole of the shoeand hold it against downward movement. At the same time, the inturnedlips 27 override the sole edges and bea-r against the shoe welt toprevent the shoefrom being displaced outwardly. Thus the shoe is heldfirmly in position, and yet is easily removed by a slight upward liftingmotion. It can be seen that either high or low shoes may be easilyaccommodated on this support, since there is no limit to the distancethat the shoe may project forwardly from the base 10. Another advantageof this means of support is that the shoe soles are faced inwardlyagainst the base 10, thus effectively preventing the soiling of nearbygarments in the wardrobe or closet.

In order that the clamps 11 may be held in position after being placedat the proper spacing, I provide locking or friction means 28 which arelocated adjacent to the outer ends of each pair of jaw support blocks24. As is best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the friction means 28 are formedas flat rectangular blocks having upper and lower edges confined withinthe grooves 18 and 19. On the back side of the block 28, upper and lowerrecesses 29 and 30 are formed to receive spring means 31 and 32,respectively, which bear frictionally against the rear wall of thegrooves 18 and 19. The springs 31 and 32 are typically formed as flatleaf springs bowed centrally to provide a contact surface, but otherconventional forms of detents may be used. By applying a moderate handpressure, the blocks 28 may be slid along the base 10, but they willnormally remain in a pre-set position.

Upon downward movement of the shoe into engagement with the clamp jaws25, there is a horizontal force which tends to spread the jaws apart andmight, under some conditions, dislodge the friction members 28 from ,v

their pre-set position. For this reason, I have spaced the frictionmembers 28 from the clamp bodies 24 and connected them by resilientmeans so that in the event the jaws 25 are subjected to a sudden impact,the jaws may spread slightly without causing any movement of thefriction means 28 or damage to the jaws.

Extending rigidly outwardly from the block 28 is an arm 34 which isgenerally parallel to the jaw 25. The resilient means 35 may comprise acoil spring connected between the arm 34 and jaw 25 so as to yieldinglysupport the latter. A boss 37 projects outwardly from the arm 34, and asimilar boss 38 is formed on the back face of the jaw 25 for engagementwithin the ends of the coil spring 35, which is thus held in position.Upon application of pressure to the jaw-engaging face 26, the spring 35yields to allow a limited movement of the clamp body 24 towards theblock 28. The compression strength of the spring 35 is made less thanthe force needed to overcome the frictional resistance of the springs 31and 32, and the member 2S is therefore not moved on the base 10 by themovement of the body 24. Upon removal of the pressure on thejaw-engaging face 26, the body 24 is moved back to its initial positionunder the urging of spring 35.

By adjusting the spacing of the clamps 11, any style or size of shoe maybe accommodated in a minimum amount of storage space. As can beunderstood, the base strip 10 may be cut into any desired length andarranged in vertical rows so as to utilize the maximum amount of bothhorizontal and vertical wall space. Each shoe is independentlysuspended, and may be removed or replaced without disarranging anyothers, so that the support is very convenient to use.

In Figs. 4 to 8, I have illustrated a modified form of support which isgenerally similar to the form just described, but is provided withsomewhat different clamping means. An elongated base or track 40 extendshorizontally and slidably supports a plurality of clamp means 41 whichare disposed in spaced pairs, with each pair being adapted to bracketand suspend a single shoe in the manner hereinbefore described. At theends of the base 40, apertures 42 may be provided to receive fasteningmeans which secure the base to a selected vertical surface. Preferablythe base 40 is formed as a plastic extrusion having a flat rear wall 44joined integrally with an upper flange 45 and lower flange 46. Aforwardly open channel 47' is defined between the flanges 45 and 46, andthe clamp means 41 project outwardly through the channel 47 forengagement with the edges of a shoe sole. As is best seen in Fig. 7, theupper flange 45 has an inner recess defining a groove 48 which extendsalong the channel 47, and a similar groove 49 is formed in the lowerange 46.

Each clamp 41 includes a generally rectangular body or block 54 whichhas its upper and lower edges confined within the grooves 48 and 49 forsliding movement along the base 40. Extending outwardly from the block54 is a jaw member 55 having an engaging face 56 and a terminal lip 57.The jaw members 55 are spaced apart in operative pairs as in thepreviously described form of the support, and the engaging faces 56 of apair of jaws are downwardly convergent in planes generally perpendicularto the base 40. The terminal lips 57 of each pair of jaws 55 are turnedtoward each other and are adapted to hook over the walls of a shoe,while the faces 56 wedge into engagement with the edges of the shoesole. Thus the shoe is supported in a vertical position in the samemanner as has been previously described, and all of the aforementionedadvantages of this means of suspension are retained.

The clamps 41 are adjustable along the base 40 to accommodate differentstyles and sizes of shoes, and are locked in position at the desiredspacings. For the purpose of holding the clamps 41 against movement, Iprovide rack means 60 on the forward portion of the base wall 44. Therack means 60 comprises a horizontally extending series of verticallyedged serrations or teeth 61 having a generally triangular crosssection. The teeth 61 are formed along the central portion of the basewall 44 so as to register with the forwardly opening channel 47, and donot extend into the upper and lower grooves 48 and 49. As is best seenin Figs. 5 to 7, the points of the teeth 61 lie on a plane lush with thesurface of the wall 44, and thus permit sliding movement of the clampbodies 54 along the smooth surface of the grooves 48 and 49.

Each clamp body 54 is provided with a latch or tooth 62 which is formedintegrally with or rigidly joined to the outer end of the body 54 andprojects rearwardly to engage the teeth 61 of the rack means 6i). As isbest seen m Fig. 5, the latch 62 is of triangular cross section and isadapted to seat between adjacent rack teeth 61 to resist movement of thebody 54 in either direction. Preferably, both the latches 62 and therack teeth 61 are of equilateral triangular cross section so as toengage each other` along contact surfaces which resist equally .forcesexerted toward either end of the base 40. This is of importance becausethe pressure exerted by a shoe on a pair of jaws 55 exerts equal andopposite spreading forces.

For the purpose of adjusting the position of the clamps 41, each body 54is formed with diagonally opposed beveled corners which allow the body54 to be rocked so as to litt the latch 62 out of engagement with therack teeth 61. As is best seen in Fig. 8, the rear face of the body 54has a beveied inner corner 64, while the front face has a beveled outercorner 65. The latch 62 is supported on a horizontal lever arm 66 whichis joined to the central portion of the body 54 and extends outwardlyparallel to the front and rear faces of the body. At the forward innercorner and rear outer corner of the body 54, right-.angular edgeportions 67 and 68, respectively, are provided. These right-angularcorners 67 and 68 prevent the jaw members 55 from pivoting away fromeach other, as will later be described.

Normally the body 54 is held parallel to the base 40, with the latch 62in firm engagement between rack teeth 61. To maintain the body 54 inthis position, I provide resilient means 7() which extend beyond theinner end of the body 54 and bear against the forward face of the basewall 44. As is best seen in Fig. 8, the resilient means 70 arepreferably formed as spaced leaf springs having one end secured inrecesses 71 provided in the body 54. The outer ends of the springs 70are formed as bowed arcuate clips 72 which bear resiliently against therear walls of the upper and lower grooves 48 and 49. In order that thefixed ends of the spring 70 may not slip from the body 54, rearwardlyturned prongs 73 may be embedded in the material of the body, as is seenin Figs. 5 and 6.

When adjustment of the position of the clamp 41 is desired, the innerend of the body 54. is pressed rearwardly against the resilience of thespring clips 72. As is seen in Fig. 6, the beveled earner portions 64and 65 allow the block 54 to be rockel or pivoted about a vertical axiswithin the limits of the walls of the grooves 48 and 49. The inner endof the block 54 is moved rearwardly, while the outer end is movedforwardly so that the latch 62 is lifted out of engagement with the rackteeth 61. Both the latch 62 and arm 66 are suciently narrow to be freelypositioned within the channel 47, and the clamp body 54 is thus freedfor sliding movement along the Walls of the grooves 48 and 49. After thelongitudinal adjustment of the clamp 41 has been completed, the body 54is released and is returned to the position of Fig. 5 by the resilienceof the spring clips 72, the tooth 62 entering the notch between two ofthe rack teeth 61 to hold the body S4 in the adjusted position.

Since the latch 62 and jaw member 55 are spaced apart on the body 54,the pressure against the jaw face 56 exerted by a shoe placed betweenthe jaws will act through the body 54 to press the latch 62 more firmlyinto engagement with the rack 60, and securely hold the bodies 54 intheir pre-set positions. As was previously mentioned, the forward innercorner 67 and rear outer corner 68 are preferably of right-angular shapeso as to make iirm contact with the walls of the grooves 48 and 49 andassist the tooth 62 in holding the jaw members 55 against pivoting awayfrom each other upon engagement with a shoe sole. Although such pivotingwould not lift the latch 62 from engagement with the rack 60, it mightunder some circumstances interfere with the suspension of a shoe, and istherefore preferably avoided.

It may now be fully understood that the use of the supports is verypractical and convenient, and the adjustment of either form of theclamping means is eX- tremely simple. While I have shown two forms of myinvention which are ruggedly and economically constructed, it is to beunderstood that other modifications may be made without departing fromthe scope of my invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to thedetails shown and described herein, except as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A shoe holding bracket which includes: an elongated horizontallydisposed base, said base having a forwardly open channel therein; atoothed rack in the bottom of said channel having a plurality oflongitudinally spaced forwardly facing rack teeth; a plurality of clampbodies mounted for sliding movement along said channel and disposed inspaced pairs; a rearwardly projecting latch formed on each clamp bodyfor normally engaging said rack teeth to hold said body against slidingmovement, said body having a cross sectional shape to permit limitedpivotal movement within said channel in such a direction as to lift saidlatch out of engagement with said teeth; resilient means connected tosaid body and bearing against the wall of said channel to urge saidlatch into engagement with said teeth; and a jaw member mounted on eachof said clamp bodies and projecting forwardly from said base, the jawmembers on each pair of said clamp bodies being opposed to each other toengage the sole edges of a shoe instep placed between said jaws with thesole facing said base to thereby suspend said shoe vertically.

2. A shoe holding bracket which includes: an elongated horizontallydisposed base, said base having upper and lower overhanging angesdefining opposed grooves communicating with a central forwardly openchannel; toothed rack means formed longitudinally along the rear wall ofsaid channel; a plurality of clamp bodies of generally rectangular shapeccliiined for sliding movement along said grooves and disposed in spacedpairs; rearwardly projecting latches formed on the outer ends of theclamp bodies of each of said pairs, said latches normally engaging theteeth of said rack means to hold said bodies against sliding movement,the rear inner and forward outer corners of each of said bodies beingbeveled to permit limited pivotal movement of said bodies within saidgrooves about vertical axes in such directions as to lift said latchesout of engagement with the teeth of said rack means; spring meansconnected at the inner ends of said bodies and bearing against the rearwalls of said grooves to urge said latches into engagement with theteeth of said rack means; and a jaw member mounted on each of said clampbodies and projecting forwardly from said base, the jaw members on eachpair of said clamp bodies being opposed to each other in downwardlyconvergent planes to engage the tapered sole edges of a shoe instepplaced between said jaws with the sole facing said base to therebysuspend said shoe vertically.

3. A shoe holding bracket which includes: an elongated horizontallydisposed base, said base having upper and lower overhanging iiangesdefining opposed grooves communicating with a central forwardly openchannel; a toothed rack extending longitudinally along the rear wall ofsaid channel between said upper and lower grooves; a plurality of clampbodies of generally rectangular shape coniined for sliding movementalong said grooves and disposed in spaced pairs; rearwardly projectinglatches formed on the outer ends of the clamp bodies of each of saidpairs, said latches normally engaging said rack to hold said bodiesagainst sliding movement, the rear inner and forward outer corners ofeach of said bodies being beveled to permit limited pivotal movement ofsaid bodies within said grooves about vertical axes in such directionsas to lift said latches out of engagement with said rack; spring meansconnected at the inner ends of said bodies and bearing against the rearwalls of said grooves to urge said latches into engagement with saidrack; and a jaw member mounted on each of said clamp bodies andprojecting forwardly through said channel, the jaw members on each pairof said clamp bodies being opposed to each other in downwardlyconvergent planes with the terminal ends formed as inturned lips, saidjaw members engaging the tapered sole edges of a shoe instep placedbetween said jaws with the sole facing said base to thereby suspend saidshoe vertically with said lips holding said shoe against forwardmovement, the forward inner and rear outer end corners of said bodiesbeing right-angular for engaging the walls of said grooves to preventpivotal movement of said jaws away from each other.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 173,453 Dorrance Feb. 15, 1876 580,632 Yeiser Apr. 13, 1897655,739 Runtz Aug. 14, 1900 790,669 Winship May 23, 1905 1,058,195Perkins Apr. 8, 1913 1,800,387 Greist Apr. 14, 1931 1,884,540 Block Oct.25, 1932 2,569,021 Rozanski Sept. 25, 1951

